Chapter 3 Flashcards
Perceptual learning
learning in which experience with a set of stimuli makes it easier to distinguish those stimuli
Priming
A phenomenon in which prior exposure to a stimulus can improve the ability to recognize that stimulus later
Familiarity
The perception of similarity that occurs when an event is repeated
Novel object recognition
An organism’s detection of and response to unfamiliar objects during exploratory behavior
Dual Process Theory
The theory that habituation and sensitization are independent of each other but operate in parallel
Skin conductance response (SCR)
A change in the skin’s electrical conductivity associated with emotions such as anxiety, fear, or suprise
Sensitization
A phenomenon in which a salient stimulus (such as an electric shock) temporarily increases the strength of response to other stimuli
Spontaneous Recovery
Reappearance (or increase in strength) of a previously habituated response after a short period of no stimulus presentation
Dishabituation
A renewal of a response previously habituated, that occurs when the organism is presented with a novel stimulus
Orienting Response
Fixation time
An organism’s innate reaction to a novel stimulus
The duration of staring
Acoustic Startle Reflex
A defensive response to a starting stimulus
Habituation
A decrease in the strength or occurrence of a behavior after repeated exposure to the stimulus that produces that behavior
Cochlear implant
A sensory prothesis that directly stimulates auditory nerves to produce hearing sensations in deaf individuals
Sensory Prothesis
A mechanical device designed to supplement or substitute for a faulty sensory modality such as vision or hearing; the device’s sensory detectors interface with brain areas that normally process those sensory inputs
Constraint-induced movement therapy
A motor rehabilitation technique in which unaffected limbs are restrained to increase usage of dysfunctional limbs
Stroke
When blood flow to some region of the brain stops or when an artery ruptures, causing neurons in the affected region to die
Place cell
A neuron that fires maximally when the organism enter’s a particular location with an environment
Cortical Plasticity
A capacity to change cortical organization as a result of experience
Receptive Field
The range of physical stimuli that activates a single neuron
Heterosynaptic
Occurring in several nearby synapses simultaneously
Homosynaptic
Occurring in one synapse without affecting nearby synapses
Synaptic Depression
A reduction in synaptic transmission; a possible neural mechanism underlying habituation
Spatial Learning
The acquisition of info about one’s surroundings
mere exposure learning
Learning through mere exposure to stimuli, without any explicit prompting and without any outward responding
